New Zealand withdraw bid to host 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup

New Zealand today joined England and withdrew its bid to host the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2018 Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

It leaves France, South Africa and South Korea in the race to host the tournaments.

New Zealand Football chief executive Andy Martin said that, after expressing an interest in the tournament, further due diligence revealed that they could not afford to host tournaments of these scale.

“We signalled our interest in May to give ourselves time to investigate the full implications of bringing a tournament of this stature to New Zealand,” Martin said.

“After making a detailed financial assessment regarding the impact of hosting this major event on the football calendar, we concluded that the 2019 event will come too soon for us.”

New Zealand are due to host next year’s men’s edition of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and Martin claimed that the Women’s World Cup was still a target.

“We remain keen to consider hosting the Women’s World Cup in the future while we continue our significant investment in the development of the women’s game at both grassroots and elite levels,” he said.

The decision strengthens France’s position to host the tournaments.

Canada is due host the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

A decision on which country will host the 2019 tournament is due to be made by FIFA next year.

This article first appeared in Inside the Games and has been reproduced with permission. The original article can be viewed by clicking here.

Want To Contribute?

So you want to contribute to the Sport Digest? We welcome submissions from the public and alumni alike. Below are links to the information you need to know. Feel free to submit a request for any additional information you may need.